A Twist in Fate
by youdontneedtoknow
Summary: Alanna arrives at the palace with Delia of Eldorne. Her brother, Squire Thom, informs her about the chaotic atmosphere of the palace, and then returns to his books. ::Incomplete, Will Not Be Completed::


Twist in Fate

By_: youdontneedtoknow_

Right now, you could be thinking two things. The more common, being:

Oh no. Another convent story. How cliché. I hope at least this author can add a bit of imagination to the plot.

-or-

Yay, a convent fic! Gotta love these things!

Please, dear Mithros, let it be the first one.

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A foot appeared from the carriage's open door, delicate and tiny. And equally tiny woman emerged, though her face displayed emotion that was anything but delicate. A pout was on the colored lips, and a defeated expression was in the woman's amethyst eyes. Her wild red hair had been tamed and put up, but curls spilled from the up do. Another woman followed her, with a similar expression.

The second woman was much more comely than the first. Her steady green eyes matched her dress, which was colored a beautiful dark green, an unusual color for a court lady. She carried a small traveling bag, which she was attempting to rifle through while climbing out of the carriage. A dainty handkerchief was extracted from the bag, as was a tiny mirror. The woman blotted her face, while staring carefully at her reflection in the mirror.

"Honestly, Alanna, must you always be so disagreeable? I know you hate to be here in the first place, but at least make an effort to get along, for everyone's sake."

"Everyone? Meaning, you?" Alanna scoffed. "Must you act as though we are all here to serve you?" She frowned, and continued, "If you wanted someone to talk to, Delia, you should have brought a servant."

Delia huffed as she instructed the footmen with her trunks. Both trunks were large, and, from the way the men carried them, unbelievable heavy. "What have you got in there, illegal weaponry?" Alanna chided her.

"No. If you must know, I brought my lip color, rouge, jewelry, and dresses. Everything of importance." Delia sighed, and stared pointedly at Alanna. "And what, may I ask, did _you _bring?"

"A few necklaces and a few dresses. Money. Nothing of importance." Delia narrowed her eyes at Alanna's mocking words.

"Fine then." Turning back to the men struggling with her belongings, she said, "Bring these up to my new rooms. The servants should have a key. Be sure that you get the best available rooms in the palace."

Alanna snorted. "Just bring them up to the first rooms you find. Try to get something near the archery practice fields." Alanna turned on her heel, nearing falling. A large hand steadied her, blistered from weaponry practice.

"Thom!" A man slightly taller than her stood there, grinning at her. She returned his smile, and pulled him down into a hug. "I missed you! How has life been here? Tell me everything!"

Thom frowned at her. "Not too well. Ever since the Prince died, the masters have been distant. I haven't been able to learn anything from them, so I've had to bury my nose in books."

By now, Alanna was frowning. I hadn't realized the Prince's death affected everyone so much. "We all lost many since the sweating sickness, but I guess I never realized. . ." Her voice trailed off as she noticed Delia standing a few feet away, listening intently to them.

A wave of sickness washed over her as Delia walked closer to them. "How do you do, squire? Are you a relation of my dear friend Alanna's?" Delia offered a hand to Thom, who took it. He brushed his lips over the red painted nails and dropped her hand, bowing awkwardly.

"Squire Thom at your service, my lady. Lady Alanna is my sister." He quizzically looked at Alanna, but then returned his focus on Delia. "And who might you be?" Thom shifted his weight from foot to foot, obviously uncomfortable.

"Lady Delia of Eldorne, Squire Thom." She smiled at him, a flirtatious look in her beautiful eyes. "Would you care to give me a tour of the palace? It is so overwhelming to a girl fresh out of the convent."

Thom blushed slightly. "I am afraid not, Lady Delia. I have some catching up with my sister to do." With that, he grabbed Alanna's arm, clutching it tightly, and walked away from the carriage, much to Alanna's delight.

-----

"So, Thom, how have things _really_ been at the palace?" Alanna stared at her twin, who sat on the bed, twiddling his thumbs absentmindedly.

"Not that great. I am excelling at my studies, but my masters think my swordplay is terrible." Thom winced as he turned to look at her. "I am covered with bruises and nothing I do seems to make it better. I am experimenting with bruise treatment, and some of it seems to be coming along."

Alanna stared deep into his purple eyes, identical to her own. "And?"

Thom sighed. "Awful. I wasn't picked as a squire by any of the other knights for the longest time. Prince Jonathan's old friends didn't even pick squires. After their Ordeal, all of them deserted the palace." Thom smiled. "Though Sir Myles of Olau took pity on me and picked me." Thom smiled crookedly. "Which is a blessing, because I can stay at the palace. Sir Myles is a desk knight."

Alanna, too, sighed at the news "You are going to be picked apart when you become a knight. How ever do you expect to be able to fight if you never even _try _to fight? Care to hear of my tales from the convent, brother dear?" she drawled, rolling her eyes.

Thom looked at her with a concerned look in his eye. "How bad could things have been there, for you to hate it so much?" He laughed as he said, "Did someone stab you with a needle?"

Alanna glared at him. "No. Yes. I stabbed myself. But no one stabbed me."

Thom's eyes twinkled. "Do elaborate."

"No."

"Fine. Then I shall bore you with tales of my studies. First period is magic training with Duke Roger." Thom's eyes stared hungrily at his books. "My favorite class of the day."

Alanna looked at him, a confused expression in her eyes. "I didn't know they taught magic here. We learned a bit at the convent, but nothing important. I can start a fire, extinguish a candle, and heal moderately. But not much else."

"They started after the sweating sickness. King Roald had little will in him after he lost his only son, what with the illness of Queen Lianne also. He believed that maybe Jonathan could have been saved if more people were trained adequately in the field of magic."

"And you Thom. What of you?"

"Me? I think it's about time _I_ was taught magic. I am the best in the class. Though, not many others are _in _the class."

"But what do you do outside of your studies, Thom? Don't you ever visit the market or anything? What about your friends?"

Thom stared at her. "I don't have any." He stormed out of the room, leaving a bewildered Alanna sitting on her bed.

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Credits to my lovelies at the Dancing Dove for the wonderful discussion about how cliché the Alanna/convent thing is, and why doesn't anybody write it how it would actually happen? And of course to Dene AKA Whispered Promises AKA Dead Life for the title. And I take no credit for the basic plot (Alanna-from-the-convent) or for the characters.(And Rubber Duck for pointing out my mistake. No, you were not reading it wrong. I wrote it wrong.)  
(And now thanks to Googlepuss for pointing out my _other_ mistake..)  
(And Dene for pointing out the Rubber Buck mistake. Sorry Rubber Duck)  
(And to Snowflake for pointing out the weird wording.)


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